Captivate Me By Your Resonating Light
by Citizenjess
Summary: Charles uses the leverage of his friendship with Magneto to negotiate the details of his peace mission to Asteroid M., but Fabian Cortez gets in his way. Set during the "Sanctuary" two-parter. Erik/Charles, implied Charles/Amelia.


After ruminating on the "Sanctuary" two-parter from the "X-Men" animated series some more (and giggling with lj user="patientalien" over Magneto's voice-over artist's hammy acting), I realized that sufficient attention had not been paid to a) Magneto's bathrobe, and b) the fact that there are apparently hidden cameras all over Asteroid M. I also thought Fabian Cortez kind of playing the bad cop to Charles' good one the entire time was interesting, and before I knew it, this popped out.

Summary: Charles uses the leverage of his friendship with Magneto to negotiate the details of his peace mission to Asteroid M., but Fabian Cortez gets in his way. Erik/Charles, implied Charles/Amelia. Title is from Evanescence's "My Immortal." Rated M.

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><p><strong>Captivate Me By Your Resonating Light<strong>

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><p>Charles is fairly certain that he will have to nudge his way into Magneto's affairs to ensure that they are able to speak in private, so when he notices how exhausted the other man seems, even after a power boost from Fabian Cortez, he takes the opportunity to worm his way into the conversation. "Magnus, we need to talk," he cajoles. Magneto's teasing aside, Charles is surprised when the other man takes him up fairly quickly on his offer. He mutters something about "giving Charles a tour of the asteroid" to some members of his inner circle, and then motions for Charles to follow him. As the motor on his floating wheelchair begins to whir audibly, Charles can feel Cortez's eyes bore into his back.<p>

Magneto holds a door for him, which opens into an expansive bedroom suite, tastefully decorated, and attached to a nearby bathroom. "Are you going to at least pretend to show me anything besides your bed, Magnus?" Charles asks, and Magneto smirks.

"If you'd like, we could make a detour through the kitchens." The door closes, and Magneto removes his helmet. Charles wonders if there might be any awkwardness between them, borne from their time apart and the conflicting ideals that have brought Charles here in the first place; however, Magneto begins to remove his own clothing, his movements purposeful, and Charles realizes that their interaction here tonight will be filled with the same synergy of frustration and attraction as all of the past ones have. He hesitates briefly, and then begins to strip, as well. Briefly, his mind flits to Amelia, to the furious expression marring her face when she realized that Charles had also come aboard Asteroid M. He had never meant to hurt her, did not truly understand how his dream of mutant co-existence with humanity had hurt her, but that hurt had certainly left an impression on them both.

Efficiently, Magneto strides over and tugs Charles cleanly out of his chair, setting him quickly on the bed - too quickly, Charles thinks; Magneto has never had trouble carrying Charles' weight before, but he doesn't mention it yet - before crawling onto the mattress himself on his hands and knees. Their mouths meet, and Charles sighs and tugs the other man closer by tangling his fingers in Magneto's long, silver hair. They continue in this fashion for some time, Magneto eventually pressing him onto his back and climbing atop him, licking the shell of his ear and murmuring hotly against it ("I've missed you, Charles"), and then lapping a trail down his neck, his hand coming to rest on Charles' suddenly responsive member. When he notices that Charles' gaze is slightly askew, Magneto frowns, cupping Charles' chin lightly, forcing their gazes to meet. "Is it the Voight woman?" he asks, and Charles blinks, surprised.

"How did you ..."

"Charles." Magneto's voice is long-suffering, his eyes rolling back briefly in his head for emphasis. "I'm not stupid. I keep tabs. I knew there might be some tension if your paths should intertwine here. All the same, however," he continues, and his grip on Charles' face tightens slightly, a bit possessively, "You are here because of me. Not her."

"You're right," Charles smiles, and then the friction caused by Magneto's hand on his cock intensifies, and there is little need for talking after that.

In the aftermath, they lay briefly entwined, Charles pillowed against the well-cushioned headboard, Magneto's head in his lap. Absently, he strokes the other man's now-mussed hair, and considers how to make constructive use of their potential pillow talk. "I meant what I said earlier," he eventually says. "I believe you might be overextending yourself, Magnus."

Magneto raises his head a fraction, eyes gleaming. "Worried about me, Charles?" he asks. Charles sighs.

"I never stop." He watches Magneto rise and begin to hunt up clothing, though it surprises him when the other man settles on white, lightweight pants and a matching, open-chest robe, festooned with red trim, rather than his usual fare. The ensemble looks good on him, of course, but all the same, it seems strangely intimate. Charles stretches a bit himself, and accepts the discarded garments that Magneto hands to him with a small nod of his head. "I would also suggest that you watch out for Fabian Cortez," he continues.

Magneto's brow knits together. "Cortez has been of great help to me," he frowns. "He ensured that we would reach Asteroid M. in one piece. He has also pledged his loyalty to me."

"I know," Charles nods. "I'm not saying he's done anything yet. It's just ... a feeling I have, that's all." He busies himself with his tie, but of course, Magneto knows him well enough to know when he's evading further discussion. Once again, however, Charles is surprised when he looks up to find the other man's face scant inches from his, his mouth curved slightly upwards.

"As always, thank you for your concern, Charles." They kiss again, and then Magneto gestures towards the door. "I meant what I said earlier: You and your X-Men are welcome to join me for dinner."

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><p>They have to flee from the asteroid for the sake of self-preservation; Charles isn't sure precisely what happened to Magneto, though he has his suspicions. Still, being framed for his old friend's demise forces his hand; soon, he and Beast, reluctantly sans Gambit, are speeding back towards the earth, Cortez's smug face emblazoned on his mind.<p>

He feels Magneto reach out to him, and tries with all of his might to sustain the connection. Alas, the other man has been incredibly weakened; when their connection disappears completely, Charles thinks that a piece of his soul might have gone with it.

He knows their work isn't over yet; however, it is imperative to him that he is allowed to say a few words about Erik before smoothing the feathers of so many riled human government officials and stopping Fabian Cortez from initiating a nuclear war with Magneto's warheads. Rogue, Wolverine, and Beast listen respectfully, though Charles can tell that they're uncomfortable; Charles rarely speaks of his relationship with Magneto, and he realizes that the sentiment probably seems out of place. On the other hand, Charles senses that it's the only thing keeping him from not losing his composure completely. There is a lot riding on his ability to keep cool under considerable pressure, perhaps now more than ever; it won't do, he thinks, to put himself out of commission.

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><p>There are several goals that need to be accomplished upon their second arrival on Asteroid M. Charles sends Hank out to disarm some 250 warheads, and Rogue leaves with Wolverine to find Gambit. Charles, realizing his obvious physical limitations in the realm of combat, opts to stay aboard the ship, keeping watch over things telepathically.<p>

Suddenly, however, everything seems to go awry at once. 'Professor, only 16% of the warheads are inactive ... the rest have been set to launch ... have to abandon the mission ...'

'Get yourself to safety, Hank,' Charles communicates, and then decides that he can no longer sit idle. Docking on the asteroid again zaps precious minutes that he doesn't have, but he finally manages, and seeks out Cortez's mind in the chaos, knowing that he runs the best chance of success if he can be stopped directly. When he finds it, Charles is taken aback by the rollicking cycle of fear-rage-panic that encompasses it. He holds off on a full-on mental infiltration, hoping that, in fact, the angry young man might still see reason.

When he does locate Cortez at last, the other man's eyes are frantic, wild, his teeth bared ferociously. "How dare you show your face," he snarls.

Charles holds up his hands in supplication. "Mr. Cortez, I mean you no harm. I merely wish for you to cease this attack on humanity. It's not too late to turn back."

Cortez's eyes gleam. "Always the negotiator, aren't you, Xavier? You really think that if we pander and supplicate ourselves enough to those worthless flat-scans, they'll eventually throw us a bone and maybe let us live on their planet outside of cages." Charles remains silent; he's had shades of this conversation with Magneto more times than he can count; best to simply let Cortez blow off steam.

However, Cortez is not content with simply ranting at Charles. When he reaches out a hand, Charles sees a stream of energy, and then gasps when he feels an invisible hand clench around his throat, cutting off his air supply. The grip is tight, but more than that, Charles can feel his strength ebbing away. "C-Cortez, please ... stop," he croaks, but Cortez simply smiles and makes a squeezing motion with his fist. "I didn't ... kill ... Magneto ..." Charles gets out, bursts of light beginning to obscure his vision.

When Cortez suddenly lets him go, Charles sags in his chair with relief, clutching his throat with his own hand. "Fool," Cortez spats. "I killed Magneto; though he was hardly the man his reputation had built him up to be."

Charles coughs and winces. "I don't understand," he ventures.

This seems to be the wrong response. Cortez grits his teeth, his eyes full of loathing. "As if you don't know," he hisses; then, he depresses a button on the control panel behind him, and a tell-tale image blinks to life on one of the room's large screens. "H-harder, Magnus," Charles is saying, and even though the camera is set at a bird's eye view, obscuring facial expressions and much more than a splaying of limbs, it's obvious to a casual observer what it is that's occurring.

Cortez presses another button and the screen shuts off again. "The Acolytes' idol, Magneto, was dead before the events of this evening," he says, and points accusingly at Charles. "And you helped murder him, by perverting him." His hand balls into a fist again, and Charles once more finds himself unable to breathe. Soon, Cortez has lifted him completely out of his chair, his deadened legs dangling a good foot above the ground. "That's treason, I'm afraid," Cortez rasps, and his unpleasant smile is back. "You'll join him soon enou-"

"That is enough, Cortez."

Magneto's voice is startling, and even if Charles weren't choking to death, he's fairly certain he'd question whether the purple-caped being standing before them now is a hallucination. Then Magneto reaches out his own arm, and lifts Cortez in the air easily, effectively loosening his own grip on Charles. He falls hard to the ground, and watches weakly as Magneto floats Cortez higher. Cortez shakes visibly, and begins making a case for his own survival: "Lord Magneto, you must understand ... I had to make sure that your ideals had not been compromised ... by him," he bites out, thrusting a finger in Charles' direction. "I believe the professor has brainwashed you, my lord! His influence over you will ruin everything you've built. He must be stopped ..."

Magneto seems bored with this train of chatter, and ceases it, as Cortez did himself to Charles, with a tightening of his hand across the other man's windpipe. "You know nothing about my relationship with Charles Xavier, Cortez," he says coolly. "Do not presume to believe that you do." Charles watches as Magneto rips a strip of metal from a nearby wall into smaller pieces, and then uses them to bind Cortez from head to foot. "My lord ... my lord, please ..." Cortez begs, and then his words are being stymied by a makeshift metal gag.

Charles wraps his arms gratefully around Magneto's neck as the other man plucks him from the ground, brushing him off before setting him carefully in his chair. "The warheads have all been deactivated or destroyed, Charles," he informs him. "Mr. McCoy did an admirable job with a significant portion of them, and then I took care of the rest."

"Thank goodness," Charles breathes. He cocks his head, looking Magneto up and down. "Your powers have been recharged," he notes aloud. "How?"

Magneto just smiles. "The earth's magnetism has seen fit to nourish me, as a mother nourishes her son." He turns and frowns severely at Fabian Cortez, who gulps and wiggles uselessly in his bonds, and then glances back at Charles. "And now, it is time for us to part ways again. I must take care of unfinished business," he emphasizes, glancing back once more at Cortez, whose eyes widen in fear, and back again, "and then make sure that Asteroid M. never again poses a threat to human- or mutantkind. It has to be destroyed, of course."

Charles nods slowly around the growing lump in his throat. "I understand," he says, "but I feel like it's counterproductive to simply leave you here. Come with me, Magnus," he entreats. "Come back with me, and we can talk, work through everything together with the United Nations." In his head, Charles thinks of the desolation he felt when he thought that Magneto was dead, and tries not to sound frantic at being abandoned again so soon.

Magneto simply shakes his head, however. "I'm afraid our paths must diverge once more, my old friend. Our destinies will forever entwine and break apart." He nods towards the entrance of the room. "But I must ask you and Mr. McCoy and the other X-Men to leave post-haste."

Charles sighs. "I understand," he acknowledges. He does not dare risk a kiss or even any less visible forms of affection in front of Cortez, and simply begins traveling slowly towards the door. At the last minute, however, he turns back, unable to resist. "Be safe, Magnus," he calls, and Magneto nods, his mouth curved into a smile.

"Stop worrying, Charles," he admonishes, and Charles leaves and tries to pretend that his heart has been broken and poorly pieced back together twice in the same day. Once he boards the Blackbird, he implores Hank to intentionally drift past Asteroid M. just once, and places his fingers to his temple.

'Come with me, Erik,' he begs again. 'Please?'

'Go, Charles,' Magneto nudges, and there's a smile in his voice: 'Go make amends with that Amelia woman already.'

Charles sighs and nods, even though he knows that Magneto cannot see him. 'Until we meet again,' he proffers, and then motions for Hank to bring them home.


End file.
